diff --git a/ansible/roles/common/templates/noaa-v2.conf.j2 b/ansible/roles/common/templates/noaa-v2.conf.j2
index 4beb7b10..3cb06372 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/common/templates/noaa-v2.conf.j2
+++ b/ansible/roles/common/templates/noaa-v2.conf.j2
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ PRUNE_OLDEST={{ delete_oldest_n }}
 METEOR_RECEIVER={{ meteor_receiver }}
 NOAA_CROP_TELEMETRY={{ noaa_crop_telemetry|lower }}
 IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION={{ image_annotation_location }}
+EXTEND_FOR_ANNOTATION={{ extend_for_annotation|lower }}
 GROUND_STATION_LOCATION='{{ ground_station_location }}'
 NOAA_DAY_ENHANCEMENTS='{{ noaa_daytime_enhancements }}'
 NOAA_NIGHT_ENHANCEMENTS='{{ noaa_nighttime_enhancements }}'
diff --git a/config/settings.yml.sample b/config/settings.yml.sample
index 40c0ec6a..76282071 100644
--- a/config/settings.yml.sample
+++ b/config/settings.yml.sample
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ delete_audio: false
 #   noaa_crop_telemetry - whether to crop the left/right telemetry in image captures
 #   image_annotation_location - where to place the annotation in images - valid options are:
 #        NorthWest, North, NorthEast, West, Center, East, SouthWest, South, SouthEast
+#   extend_for_annotation - whether to create a black extension on the north/south location of
+#        the image to place the annotation into (vs. overlaying on the captured data)
+#        (note: this will ONLY work if the image_annotation_location is NOT one of [West|Center|East])
 #   produce_noaa_pristine_image - whether to produce a pristine image (unmodified) for larger
 #        composite-based use cases
 #   produce_noaa_pristine_histogram - whether to produce a histogram of the NOAA pristine image
@@ -98,6 +101,7 @@ flip_meteor_image: true
 produce_spectrogram: true
 noaa_crop_telemetry: false
 image_annotation_location: 'NorthWest'
+extend_for_annotation: false
 produce_noaa_pristine_image: false
 produce_noaa_pristine_histogram: false
 produce_polar_az_el_graph: false
diff --git a/config/settings_schema.json b/config/settings_schema.json
index d85ec247..ab6f67c4 100644
--- a/config/settings_schema.json
+++ b/config/settings_schema.json
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@
     "image_annotation_location": {
       "type": "string"
     },
+    "extend_for_annotation":           { "type": "boolean" },
     "produce_noaa_pristine_image":     { "type": "boolean" },
     "produce_noaa_pristine_histogram": { "type": "boolean" },
     "produce_polar_az_el_graph":       { "type": "boolean" },
@@ -180,6 +181,7 @@
     "produce_spectrogram",
     "noaa_crop_telemetry",
     "image_annotation_location",
+    "extend_for_annotation",
     "produce_noaa_pristine_image",
     "produce_noaa_pristine_histogram",
     "produce_polar_az_el_graph",
diff --git a/scripts/common.sh b/scripts/common.sh
index 58788399..b9e5914a 100755
--- a/scripts/common.sh
+++ b/scripts/common.sh
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ fi
 # binary helpers
 CONVERT="/usr/bin/convert"
 GMIC="/usr/bin/gmic"
+IDENTIFY="/usr/bin/identify"
 MEDET_ARM="/usr/bin/medet_arm"
 METEOR_DEMOD="/usr/bin/meteor_demod"
 PREDICT="/usr/bin/predict"
diff --git a/scripts/image_processors/meteor_normalize_annotate.sh b/scripts/image_processors/meteor_normalize_annotate.sh
index b96faab2..241eba68 100755
--- a/scripts/image_processors/meteor_normalize_annotate.sh
+++ b/scripts/image_processors/meteor_normalize_annotate.sh
@@ -49,24 +49,70 @@ yml_config=$(echo "${yml_config}" | sed -e "s/\.\.\.$/gain: $gain\n.../")
 # vars for image manipulation
 tmp_dir="${NOAA_HOME}/tmp/annotation"
 rendered_file="${tmp_dir}/index.html"
+annotation="${tmp_dir}/annotation.png"
 
 # generate annotation html and copy any assets
 $SCRIPTS_DIR/tools/jinja2_to_file.py "${NOAA_HOME}/config/annotation/annotation.html.j2" "${yml_config}" "${rendered_file}"
 find $NOAA_HOME/config/annotation/* -type f -not -name "*.j2" -exec cp {} "${tmp_dir}/" \;
 
 # generate annotation png and crop to content
-$WKHTMLTOIMG --enable-local-file-access --format png --quality 100 --transparent "file://${rendered_file}" "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png"
-$CONVERT -format png "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" -background none -flatten -trim +repage "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png"
+$WKHTMLTOIMG --enable-local-file-access --format png --quality 100 --transparent "file://${rendered_file}" "${annotation}"
+$CONVERT -format png "${annotation}" -background none -flatten -trim +repage "${annotation}"
 
-# generate final image with annotation, doubling the annotation for account
-# for the LRPT image sizes, keeping aspect ratio for original image
-img_w=$($CONVERT "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" -format "%w" info:)
-img_h=$($CONVERT "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" -format "%h" info:)
+# resize the annotation appropriately, keeping aspect ratio
+img_w=$($CONVERT "${annotation}" -format "%w" info:)
+img_h=$($CONVERT "${annotation}" -format "%h" info:)
 new_img_w=$((img_w * 2))
 new_img_h=$((img_h * 2))
-echo $new_img_w
-echo $new_img_h
-$CONVERT -format jpg "${INPUT_JPG}" \( "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" -resize "${new_img_w}x${new_img_h}^" \) \
-         -gravity $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION \
-         -geometry +10+10 \
-         -composite "${OUTPUT_JPG}"
+$CONVERT "${annotation}" -resize "${new_img_w}x${new_img_h}^" "${annotation}"
+
+# extend the image if the user specified and didn't use
+# one of [West|Center|East] for the annotation location
+# TODO: DRY this up - this is the same code as in the NOAA script
+annotation_location=$(echo $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+extend_annotation=0
+if [ "${EXTEND_FOR_ANNOTATION}" == "true" ]; then
+  if [[ "${annotation_location}" =~ ^(west|center|east)$ ]]; then
+    log "You specified extending the annotation, but your annotation location $annotation_location does not support it" "WARN"
+  else
+    extend_annotation=1
+  fi
+fi
+
+# generate the final image with annotation
+if [ $extend_annotation -eq 1 ]; then
+  # calculate expansion height needed to fit annotation
+  annotation_h=$($IDENTIFY -format "%h" "${annotation}")
+  img_expand_px=$(($annotation_h + 20))
+  out_file=$(basename $OUTPUT_JPG)
+  tmp_out="${NOAA_HOME}/tmp/${out_file%%.*}-tmp.jpg"
+
+  # create pixels north or south depending on annotation location
+  gravity_var="South"
+  if [[ "${annotation_location}" =~ ^(northwest|north|northeast)$ ]]; then
+    gravity_var="North"
+  fi
+
+  $CONVERT -quality 100 \
+           -format jpg "${INPUT_JPG}" \
+           -gravity "${gravity_var}" \
+           -background black \
+           -splice "0x${img_expand_px}" "${tmp_out}"
+
+  # generate final image with annotation
+  $CONVERT -format jpg "${tmp_out}" "${annotation}" \
+           -gravity $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION \
+           -geometry +0+10 \
+           -composite "${OUTPUT_JPG}"
+
+  # clean up
+  rm "${tmp_out}"
+else
+  $CONVERT -format jpg "${INPUT_JPG}" "${annotation}" \
+           -gravity $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION \
+           -geometry +10+10 \
+           -composite "${OUTPUT_JPG}"
+fi
+
+# clean up the annotation
+rm "${annotation}"
diff --git a/scripts/image_processors/noaa_normalize_annotate.sh b/scripts/image_processors/noaa_normalize_annotate.sh
index 883f984a..cbc99ef4 100755
--- a/scripts/image_processors/noaa_normalize_annotate.sh
+++ b/scripts/image_processors/noaa_normalize_annotate.sh
@@ -58,9 +58,52 @@ find $NOAA_HOME/config/annotation/* -type f -not -name "*.j2" -exec cp {} "${tmp
 $WKHTMLTOIMG --enable-local-file-access --format png --quality 100 --transparent "file://${rendered_file}" "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png"
 $CONVERT -format png "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" -background none -flatten -trim +repage "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png"
 
-# generate final image with annotation
-$CONVERT -quality $QUALITY \
-         -format jpg "${INPUT_JPG}" "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" \
-         -gravity $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION \
-         -geometry +10+10 \
-         -composite "${OUTPUT_JPG}"
+# extend the image if the user specified and didn't use
+# one of [West|Center|East] for the annotation location
+annotation_location=$(echo $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+extend_annotation=0
+if [ "${EXTEND_FOR_ANNOTATION}" == "true" ]; then
+  if [[ "${annotation_location}" =~ ^(west|center|east)$ ]]; then
+    log "You specified extending the annotation, but your annotation location $annotation_location does not support it" "WARN"
+  else
+    extend_annotation=1
+  fi
+fi
+
+# generate the final image with annotation
+if [ $extend_annotation -eq 1 ]; then
+  # calculate expansion height needed to fit annotation
+  annotation_h=$($IDENTIFY -format "%h" "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png")
+  img_expand_px=$(($annotation_h + 20))
+  out_file=$(basename $OUTPUT_JPG)
+  tmp_out="${NOAA_HOME}/tmp/${out_file%%.*}-tmp.jpg"
+
+  # create pixels north or south depending on annotation location
+  gravity_var="South"
+  if [[ "${annotation_location}" =~ ^(northwest|north|northeast)$ ]]; then
+    gravity_var="North"
+  fi
+
+  $CONVERT -quality 100 \
+           -format jpg "${INPUT_JPG}" \
+           -gravity "${gravity_var}" \
+           -background black \
+           -splice "0x${img_expand_px}" "${tmp_out}"
+
+  # generate final image with annotation
+  $CONVERT -quality $QUALITY \
+           -format jpg "${tmp_out}" "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" \
+           -gravity $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION \
+           -geometry +0+10 \
+           -composite "${OUTPUT_JPG}"
+
+  # clean up
+  rm "${tmp_out}"
+else
+  # generate final image with annotation
+  $CONVERT -quality $QUALITY \
+           -format jpg "${INPUT_JPG}" "${tmp_dir}/annotation.png" \
+           -gravity $IMAGE_ANNOTATION_LOCATION \
+           -geometry +10+10 \
+           -composite "${OUTPUT_JPG}"
+fi